Fans of the Today Show on NBC News wake up and watch Hoda Kotb each weekday morning. In addition to her duties as Today Show co-anchor, she has some other important titles: mother and author.
This weekend, Kotb was in Connecticut greeting fans and signing copies of her new children's book, 'You Are My Happy.'
"I can't even believe what I walked into in Connecticut," Kotb said on Sunday, as she visited Wesleyan R.J. Julia bookstore in Middletown.
She talked about the inspiration for the book - her daughter. Kotb adopted Haley Joy in early 2017.
"I think this book means the world to me because it gave me chapter of my life that I thought I'd missed," she said.
The story is about how gratitude for things in life - both big and small - can bring us happiness.
Kotb said she reads the book to Haley each night.
"Reading her this story and kind of recounting what made us happy over the course of the day, it's so profound. It's simple, but profound," Kotb said.
Sylvia Fuller and her young son are big fans of Kotb and the book.
"Hoda's book is one that he repeatedly asks for every night," Fuller, who lives in Cromwell, said.
"I watch her on the Today Show before school and I think she's really cool and I really like her books that she writes," Olivia Stoner of South Windsor said, who was among the many lined up for a signed book - and a hug.
Kotb said she appreciated the warm Connecticut welcome and that she is seeing her new book in so many hands.
"You're like 'oh my god, somebody else is connecting with it,'" Kotb said. "I just hope they love it."
